Work breakdown structure for water distribution pipeline networks

Abstract

Pipe is one of the basic infrastructures in water treatment and distribution systems. In Malaysia, water supply infrastructure which has been built progressively over the last 50 years, now is facing the ageing asset problems due to the use and deterioration over the years. The deterioration of water pipeline networks has increased the cost of repairing, for replacing failed water pipelines and the cost of non-revenue water. In order to solve this problem, a huge amount of budget is needed to maintain, rehabilitate, replace and dispose the water pipeline networks. Considering that the Life Cycle Cost (LCC) is essential in determining the water pipeline networks performance and to minimize the amount of cost, development of Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for LCC Model to be practiced in water infrastructure is important. The first objective of this research is to develop a WBS for water distribution pipeline networks. Second, to determine the weightage of element for each category of the WBS and third, to investigate the readiness of the water industry for the implementation of LCC and the WBS for water distribution pipeline networks. The methodology used include Delphi Method and Analytic Hierarchy Process in the process of developing WBS and determining the weightage of each category of elements where ten respondents (practitioners from water operators in Malaysia) are interviewed. The readiness of implementing LCC and WBS for water distribution pipeline networks was determined through a Likert-scale questionnaire and the feedbacks of 35 respondents from the water industry practitioners selected randomly were analysed using descriptive method. This research has built the WBS for water distribution pipeline networks and the weightage suggests that capital consume the largest portion (74.3 percent), followed by operation and maintenance (17.8 percent), meanwhile the disposal consume the smallest portion (7.9 percent). The findings also revealed that the practitioners were ready to implement the WBS constructed by this research. The WBS developed has now filled up the gap in academic and also gives contribution to the water industry.